Heidi was sitting on her bed in her big brick house on 145 Peppertree Drive in New Kingston, Pennsylvania. She was thinking about her next birthday.

She got up and ran to Mommy and asked, "Mommy, when will I be four?"

"In about three weeks," she said.

"Is that a long time?" asked Heidi.

"Not too long. Would you like to plan your birthday party?"

"Oh yes," said Heidi as she jumped up and down just thinking about it!

"Well," said Mommy, "What kind of party do you want? And who do you want to invite? Do you want a doll party or a circus party?"

Heidi wasn't listening. She was thinking of all the friends she would like to invite.

"I want a BIG party," she said with glee.

"I want lots of people to help me celebrate my fourth birthday. I want, Anna, Andrew and Seth to come and of course, Holly, Heather and Hannah because they are my sisters."

"That makes nine so far," said Mommy.

Then Heidi wanted her friends in her Sunday School class to come and the teachers too.

"That makes 20 so far," said Mommy.

"And I want some grown-ups too like Mrs. Malek and Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson and Mr. and Mrs. Lintelman. Now how many does that make Mommy?""We're up to 35!" Mommy said.

Don't you think that's enough, Heidi?" Mommy exclaimed.

Heidi didn't hear her because she was thinking of some of friends she had missed.

"I forgot you and Daddy!" said Heidi.

"What if you were not invited!" she laughed. "That would be a big mistake!"

"Well, then there's the mailman and my neighbor friends, Jessie, Cassie and Jason, and Mr. and Mrs. Blitz."

Heidi couldn't think of any more people.

"Well, how many does that make?" she asked.

"That makes exactly 51," said Mommy.

"Heidi, what kind of party can we have with 51 people?" asked Mommy.

They thought and thought and thought.Finally, Mommy said loudly, " How about an open house? That way everybody can come."

"We could have hamburgers on the grill," then Heidi jumped up and down and said, "Oh, yes, and hot dogs with purple ketchup!"

Mommy made a funny face at that idea.

"And we could have potato chips, veggies and dip, juice bags and ice cream cups and a big birthday cake!"

"OK, Heidi, that sounds great," said Mommy.

Heidi was going to have a birthday party with 51 people! Can you imagine that?The day of the party finally came and it rained all morning and afternoon, oh no! But by 5pm the sun came out. Hooray! The guests started coming. There was Mr. and Mrs. Scofield and Seth, Andre and Anne and all her friends.

Everyone said, "Happy Birthday, Heidi, you're four years old today."

Heidi was so happy.

Then she saw all the gifts! Can you imagine 51 gifts? They were all put on the kitchen table and were stacked so high they almost touched the ceiling. It took a long time for Heidi to open them all. There were 5 Barbie dolls, a Barbie plate, bowl and cup, a Clifford puzzle, rain poncho for Heidi to paint on and wear, gel markers and a pad of black paper, a pink horse head mounted on a stick for Heidi to straddle and ride and many more presents!

Everyone ate all the food and some even tried the purple ketchup!

The boys and girls played games in the backyard. Some of her friends played dress up and had a parade for the grown ups. Heidi blew out the four candles on her birthday cake as everyone sang Happy Birthday to Heidi. She licked the icing off the candles and everyone laughed.

Finally everyone went home and Heidi was once again with her family. Heidi had so much fun! Then she remembered, "I'm four!" she yelled.

"Yes, Heidi, you're four," said Daddy and Mommy.

And Heidi smiled and said once again, " I'm four!"

Author: Hal Vizino

About This Author

A resident of Winterset Neighborhood Association, he is excellent artist & story teller. Hal author's a children's column in the newspaper. He became interested in writing children's stories and dedicating them to his four granddaughters. Read More...